Water at England's beaches is cleanest on record

Dry summer, tighter regulations and more spending by water companies sees 98.5% of beaches monitored by the Environment Agency meet EU standards

Dawlish Warren, a blue flag beach in south Devon, England. The money spent on avoiding pollution is thought to have contributed to a significant rise in people choosing to holiday at British beaches in 2016.
Photograph: James D. Morgan/Getty Images

England’s bathing waters are the cleanest ever recorded thanks to a dry summer, tighter EU regulations and increased spending by water companies.

Of the 413 beaches monitored up to 20 times a year by the Environment Agency for their pollution, 98.5% passed the minimum EU limit. Of these, 69% were rated “excellent” and 27% “good”. Water at five persistently failing beaches met the minimum standard for the first time, but six beaches failed.

In Northern Ireland, 20 out of 23 beaches were classed as “excellent” or “good”, and only one failed. Wales had not posted its results on Tuesday.

The Environment Agency acknowledged that the English results, which cover the past four years, reflected dry summer weather in 2016. This saw less polluted water spill into the sea from drains, sewers and farms.

“The 2015 results included the 2012 bathing season, which was notably wet with subsequently poorer quality. While the 2016 bathing season started wet, weather conditions improved during the course of this season,” said the agency.

Environment groups welcomed the results, but warned that standards must not be allowed to slip.

“The continuing improvement of England’s beaches and bathing water are a terrific success story. Ministers must now ensure that this is not the high water mark for the quality of our coastal environment – and that the tough EU rules that have driven these vast improvements are kept no matter what Brexit looks like,” said Friends of the Earth campaigner Samuel Lowe.

“These results are welcome. Europe’s water directive, combined with the safer seas service which monitors bathing water pollution on an hourly basis at over 100 popular beaches, means we have the toughest water quality standards in the world,” said a spokesman for Surfers Against Sewage.

Bathing water pollution, which can cause eye and ear infections and gastroenteritis, has dramatically improved since EU bathing water regulations were introduced in 1976. In 1991, the water off more than one in four beaches in Britain was considered too dirty to bathe in.

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The threat of heavy fines and beach closures by the EU in the 1990s forced British water companies to spend billions of pounds to limit discharges of pollution from raw sewage and animals.

Since 2006, when standards were further raised again by the EU, water companies have had to spend hundreds of millions more pounds on treating water before it is discharged into the sea.

The money spent on avoiding pollution is thought to have contributed to a significant rise in the number of people choosing to holiday in Britain and visit beaches in 2016.

The latest figures show almost 14 million people chose to holiday at an English beach in 2015 - up 7% on 2014, said the Environment Agency.

“We will continue to ensure bathing waters are maintained and improved further, so we need partners and the public to work with us to reduce pollution,” said Sir James Bevan, chief executive of the Environment Agency.